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Hey Lioncourt, you said that in your view it wasn't a big departure and that in earlier canons there were hints that He-Man "was the Power".
Can you elaborate what material you are referring to?

Well, a lot of it is still open to interpretation, particularly depending on the canon you're talking about.

Especially in early canons, Grayskull is said to be the focal point for all of th epower int he universe…or some variation on that theme. It was implied, IMO, that the power was neutral, and that only He-Man wielded the power for good, because he was at his core the most noble/heroic spirit. That idea has been hinted at multiple times in episodes like "Prince Adam No More" and "The Courage of Adam", where the subtext is that Adam's goodness is a key ingredient…if not the key ingredient, of the power.

In traditional fantasy settings, from which MotU is clearly heavily influenced, a common theme is that evil turns in upon itself, since it is only able to destroy…not create. This, too, has been a recurring theme in MotU, especially in the Filmation days, though never as explicitly stated as I have here. (Except, perhaps, in the storybook LP from Kids Stuff, during He-Man and Skeletor's poetic exchange outside Castle Grayskull.)

Taking both of these underlying concepts to their logical conclusions, the power does come from within Adam, assuming we accept the idea that only he is "good" enough to wield it, and that it would ultimately destroy someone like Skeletor were he to try.

If the King Grayskull bloodline was the only thing that mattered, than regardless of one's character, a descendant of Grayskull should be able to wield the power. If we accept that Keldor is Randor's brother, Skeletor should be able to wield the power without consequence. While that would make for some interesting plots, I don't personally subscribe to the concept of the bloodline being the primary key to the power.

Like so much in MotU, much is left up to interpretation, which is one of the things that make it so fun to discuss and debate. Based on the subtext of many canons of the past, I don't think the DC interpretation is a departure…or, at the very least, it is not a radical one.

" the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few "
" or the one "